Ronald Poelman - Censored General Conference Talk - Nov 16, 1984

On 16 November 1984, the Salt Lake Tribune broke a story about changes in first quorum of seventy member Ronald E. Poelman’s 7 October 1984 General Conference address, “The Gospel and the Church,” with the article, “Elder’s Address Rewritten from Conference Version,” by Rodd G. Wagner (B-1, B-4). Wagner wrote that not only was the address heavily edited and partially rewritten for the November Ensign, it was also re-videotaped, with “the new version [being] spliced into the conference tape” for church distribution. In response, Church spokesperson Don LeFevre stated that “the most obvious place to retape [Poelman’s] talk was from the pulpit,” but when Wagner asked if this could give a “false impression” about this being the original, LeFevre said, “It could.” The Deseret News ran a similar story on 17 November(B-5) and the Provo Daily Herald on 18 November. Some months later, in Sunstone 10:1 (1985), editor Peggy Fletcher wrote that “Poelman returned to the Tabernacle a few days after conference and retaped the speech with the changes. This tape was then spliced into the original conference tape replacing the previous address. In addition, a “coughtrack” was provided to make it sound more like an audience was present.” Stack also points out that “the cost of this video editing was between $10,000 and $15,000.” Church spokesperson Jerry Cahill was quoted as saying, “I don’t think that $10,000 is too much to pay to correct a possible misinterpretation. Besides, if the Brethren require it, we comply.” (The Daily Herald reported “Poelman redelivered his speech in the studios of the Mormon Church-owned Bonneville Media Communications,” but this is likely an error.)

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